BBC Singers, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Kings Place review - on the way to heaven via King's Cross

★★★★ BBC SINGERS, AURORA, COLLON, KING'S PLACE Musical journey towards bliss

Intimate settings for a musical journey towards bliss

Just now, music about survival, transcendence and the afterlife may have a special resonance for the BBC Singers. After all, the supremely versatile century-old chamber choir has endured its own near-death experience – at the hands of the BBC top brass who, in 2023, planned to axe them.

The Maids, Jermyn Street Theatre review - new broom sweeps clean in fierce revival

THE MAIDS, JERMYN STREET THEATRE Master and Servant, poison & procrastination

Class, in its 21st century manifestation, colours much performed play

There are two main reasons to revive classics. The first is that they are really good; the second is that they have something to say about how the world is changing, perhaps more accurately, how our perception of it is changing. Both are true of Annie Kershaw’s slick, sexy, shocking production of Martin Crimp's translation, up close and personal, at the Jermyn Street Theatre.

Maria review - Pablo Larraín's haunting portrait of an opera legend

★★★★ MARIA Pablo Larraín's haunting portrait of an opera legend

Angelina Jolie puts body and soul into her portrayal of Maria Callas

As Bono once commented about Luciano Pavarotti, “the opera follows him off stage”. Legendary soprano Maria Callas would have known exactly what he meant, and she herself said “an opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down.”

The English Concert, Bicket, Wigmore Hall review - a Baroque banquet for Christmas

★★★★ THE ENGLISH CONCERT, BICKET, WIGMORE HALL A Baroque banquet for Christmas

Charpentier's charm, as well as Bach's bounty, adorn the festive table

Enough is as good as a feast, they say. But sometimes, especially at Christmas, you crave a properly groaning table. At the Wigmore Hall, The English Concert, directed by Harry Bicket, concluded their festive Baroque banquet with Bach’s Magnificat – complete with its four Christmas-tide interpolations. They had prefaced the Bach with a trio of lesser-known seasonal pieces dating from the preceding decades, by Charpentier, Stradella, and Purcell. That might sound like a light plate of rather scholarly, even austere, hors d’oeuvres.

Paris Has Fallen, Prime Video review - Afghan war veteran wreaks a terrible vengeance

★★★★ PARIS HAS FALLEN, PRIME VIDEO Afghan war veteran wreaks a terrible vengeance

Cynical politicians and amoral arms dealers feel the heat

You might assume that the “Has Fallen” in the title of this Anglo-French thriller connotes the presence of Scottish lunk Gerard Butler (as in Angel Has Fallen, London Has Fallen and Olympus Has Fallen), but there’s no Gerard in sight. Instead, in this TV spin-off from the movie series, we have Tewfik Jallab (pictured below) as protection officer Vincent Taleb, who’s acting as minder to France’s defence minister Philippe Bardin (Nathan Willcocks).

The Crime Is Mine review - entertaining froth from a crack cast

★★★ THE CRIME IS MINE Entertaining froth from a crack cast

François Ozon keeps the mood light in a quasi-feminist period piece

For his latest pick’n’mix sortie into the world of the women’s picture, François Ozon has gone back to the 1930s and a popular play of the time, Mon Crime (1934). In his hands it emerges as an île flottante of a film that slips down easily but isn’t that nourishing, even though he adds some crunchier elements along the way.

Album: Juniore - Trois, Deux, Un

★★★ JUNIORE - TROIS, DEUX, UN Elegant if deliberate retro-futurist garage-pop

Parisian trio showcase an elegant if deliberate retro-futurist garage-pop

Although it takes seconds to discern that Juniore are French, a core inspiration appears to be the echoing surf-pop instrumentals of Californian studio band The Marketts, whose 1963 single "Out of Limits" became their most well-known track. Add in – exemplified by Trois, Deux, Un’s fifth and sixth tracks “Amour fou” and “Grand voyageur” – the languid atmosphere of the early Françoise Hardy and the result is a form of Gallic retro-futurist garage-pop.

Art, Theatre Royal Bath review - Yasmina Reza's smash hit back on tour 30 years after Paris premiere

 ART, THEATRE ROYAL BATH Three men fall out over a painting in a very French comedy

Male friendships buckle as egos clash, with a resonance for today's culture wars

For men, navigating through life whilst maintaining strong friendships is not easy (I’m sure the same can be said for women, but Yasmina Reza’s multi-award winning play, revived on its 30th anniversary, is most definitely about men). What brings blokes together – work, sports, pubs – is seldom founded on deep emotional connections, though it can be and sometimes does morph into that.

Prom 58, Orchestre de Paris, Mäkelä review - risky reinvention pays off in part

★★★★ PROM 58, ORCHESTRE DE PARIS, MAKELA Risky reinvention pays off in part

Berlioz fares better than Stravinsky in a master conductor’s fresh takes

Never mind the Last Night, it’s always the preceding Proms weeks which lead us through different rooms of a dream palace as visiting orchestras succeed one another. This year has taken on an almost hallucinatory quality as three great conductors – Jakub Hrůša, Kirill Petrenko and Klaus Mäkelä – appeared in close succession. If the Orchestre de Paris isn’t quite on the level with the Czech or Berlin Philharmonics, its love-in with its chief conductor was still electrfying at times.